CHOCOLATE FACTS

What Is a Chocolate "Vintage" or "de Cru"?

There are three main species of the cacao tree:

Forastero, Crillo and Trinitario. Several varieties exist within each of these three. Much like wine, chocolate reflects the flavors of the region where cocoa beans are grown, and how they are dried and fermented. The "Cru" designation signifies that the beans come from a certain country or region. It is therefore traceable and easy to confirm its genuineness.

Our chocolate is produced using single origin cacao and is further qualified as "de cru" or "Vintage" by being from a single region in the Dominican Republic.

We chose our cacao from the Dominican Republic because, after trying most other available beans, we found their Criollo, Forastero and Trinitario cacao trees to be of the highest quality and featuring dense flavors and characteristics of intense green/grassy, fine fruity and mild tobacco. We only use the Hispaniola cacao mass which is raw, fermented (for 8 days) and very lightly roasted. We were also looking for a cacao that follows strict sustainable, organic farming regulations and does not use any pesticides or chemical fertilizers. In the Dominican Republic (since the 1980's) cacao production has been exclusively organic and a sustainable source of income for its farmers.